PLEASE NOTE: Wayah Bald is not accessible to drivers from January 1 to April 1 when Forest Service Road 69 is closed.
The drive up to the Bald and the Lookout Tower does involve driving on a gravel Forest Service road and involves some twists & turns. It is not recommended for motorcycles, but cars are fine. A 4WD vehicle is not necessary.
WAYAH BALD is a high-altitude treeless open area in Nantahala National Forest, near Franklin, North Carolina. The view is quite spectacular here.
I AM POSTING THE QUESTIONS FOR COMPLETION OF THE EARTHCACH FIRST Due in part to many geocachers now using mobile devices so that they will find the qusetions without having to scroll far down the cache page, although some of what you will learn is explained in the body of the information on the cache page.
IN ORDER TO COMPLETE THIS EARTHCACHE: Since there is NO Container with a Log Sheet to Sign, I require that, for this EarthCache, You must answer or do at least ONE of the following questions or activities, with your answer(s) sent to me in an email or message through geocaching.com. "Found it" logs without subsequently sending the answers to the required question(s) or activities will be deleted for non-compliance of the EarthCache logging requirements.
In order to answer your choice of 1 (or more) of the questions/actions below to complete your find, You should use your observations of the cache location, and what you learn at the site itself and from the informatinon provided in the cache page write-up.
QUESTIONS/Actions TO CHOOSE FROM (Remember to do At Least 1 to qualify for a find)
1) See if you can find, in the rocks present at this location, any of the minerals mentioned in the writeup on the cache page.
2) Do you think any metamorphic rocks are present here?
3) Are the mountains, including the one you are standing on, as well as the ones within your field of vision older or younger than the Rocky Mountains?
4) Do you think this mountain summit is in a steady state or not, and why or why not?
5) Looking at the landscape around you, do you think any of what you see would qualify as a mountain summit, a gap or are both present?
Optional (Each Can Be Used In Place Of A Question/Activity If You Wish):
Option A): Post a photo of something you see on or around the Bald area, preferably with your GPS in the photo. While I would love to see you in the photo, it is not necessary.
Option B): SIGN OR CARVE YOUR NAME/HANDLE ON THE "CARVE HERE" STRUCTURE LOCATED BEHIND THE BUILDING, ERECTED HERE FOR THAT PURPOSE. (A photo of it would be great!)
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Some Area History and Information:
Wayah Bald received its name from the Cherokee natives. It was named "Waya", the Cherokee word for wolf, after the red wolves that once inhabited the area. Spear points found on the bald indicate that indigenous people used the area as hunting grounds more than eleven thousand years ago.
The Observation Lookout Tower at Wayah Bald, located atop the area's highest point on Wayah Bald at 5,342 feet (1,597 meters) is an old stone fire tower originally built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1937 to protect the forest from fires and other dangers. The stone observation tower was, and is today, an historic Lookout Tower in Western North Carolina. The decommissioned stone lookout tower is also an important landmark along the Appalachian Trail, as well as a stop along the popular Bartram Trail, Both of which pass across here and you are standing on. And the tower offers a great view of the Appalachian Mountains in 4 different states: Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina.
The Nantahala National Forest (næntəˈheɪlə/), with over a half million acres, is the largest of the four national forests in North Carolina, lying in the mountains and valleys of western North Carolina. (Those national forests are: Croatan, Uwharrie, Pisgah, and, of course, The Nantahala National Forest). Interestingly, The Nantahala is the second wettest region in the country, after the Pacific Northwest. The mountains within the Nantahala District, and the entire Nantahala National Forest, are part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains. The Blue Ridge Mountains extend from the US state of Georgia northward to Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Spring is magnificent at Wayah Bald, but it is an excellent spot for sunrise and sunset throughout the year!
The Wayah Bald Lookout Tower was listed on the National Historic Lookout Register in 2007.
Wayah Bald is located at the end of a National Forest Service Road 69 about 40 minutes (by car) from downtown Franklin, North Carolina. The lookout tower is also 1 hour 20 minutes southwest of Bryson City in Swain County, and 1 hour 20 minutes northwest of Highlands, also in Macon County.
You can reach Wayah Bald Tower while hiking or by taking a short walk from your car in the parking lot.
Driving Directions: From Franklin, take 64 W for approximately 3 miles, turn right at Wayah Bald/ LBJ Job Corps sign. Turn left on SR 1310 at Loafer's Glory gas station and travel approximately 8 miles. Turn right onto Wayah Bald turnoff Forest Service Road 69. Follow the gravel road 4.5 miles. The fact that you can drive up to this lookout tower is one reason why it’s so appealing.
NOTE: When driving, best is to add the Wayah Bald Tower directions to your phone or GPS device beforehand. Phone signal is spotty & sometimes nonexistent in the area leading up to it. “Wayah Bald, Franklin, NC,” will get you to the right place.
You can hike through at any time, though keep an eye on weather conditions.
If you are hiking on the Appalachian Trail, Wayah Bald is about 10 miles south of Wesser Bald Fire Tower. Wayah Bald and the trail leading to it are within The Nantahala National Forest.
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NOW FOR THE EARTHCACHE:
Our viewpoint is from Wayah Bald and the Fire Lookout Tower atop it, located in the Nantahala National Forest. Wayah Bald is located on a mountain summit. A mountain summit, geologically speaking, is its peak, which is the highest point.
How did this area form? The mountains within the subrange of The Nantahala Mountains formed through a series of mountain-building events. These include both the Grenville orogeny (orogeny [o-'rä-jə-nē] is the process of mountain formation especially by folding of the earth's crust), which started during the Mesoproterozoic and the more recent Alleghanian orogeny, which took place approximately 325 to 260 million years ago. The Nantahala, and, indeed, The Blue Ridge, is a deeply dissected mountainous area of numerous steep mountain ridges, basins and valleys that intersect at all angles and give the area its rugged mountain character. The Blue Ridge contains many of the highest elevations and some of the most rugged topography in the Appalachian Mountain system of eastern North America. The North Carolina portion of the Blue Ridge is about 200 miles long and ranges from 15 to 55 miles wide. It contains an area of about 6,000 square miles, or about 10 percent of the area of the state.
The Nantahala Mountains are part of a larger geologic province, which means that they feature unique and distinct landforms. The range also consists primarily of both igneous and metamorphic rocks. (Igneous rocks form when magma (molten rock) cools and crystallize, while Metamorphic rocks start as one type of rock and—with pressure, heat, and time—gradually change into a new type of rock). NANTAHALA is underlain by high-grade metamorphic rocks, primarily biotite and quartz gneisses (Biotite is the most common mica mineral, and is abundant in metamorphic rocks and granites), with minor schists and metasedimentary rocks (a metasedimentary rock is a type of metamorphic rock that was first formed through the deposition and solidification of sediment, then, the rock was buried underneath subsequent rock and was subjected to high pressures and temperatures, causing the rock to recrystallize) that have been strongly folded and faulted throughout the area (Hatcher, 1979).
Some examples of metamorphic rocks are gneiss, slate, marble, schist, and quartzite, all of which are found here and throughout the Nantahala region, as are some occasional igneous intrusions. The landscape within the Nantahala Ranger District and the surrounding areas are also rich in minerals such as garnets, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, mica, and amethysts.
Gneiss (g naɪs / NICE) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures and pressures than schist.
Slate is a fine-grained, metamorphic rock that shows no obvious compositional layering, but can easily be split into thin slabs and plates. It is usually formed by low-grade regional metamorphism of mudrock.
Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals that recrystallize under the influence of heat, pressure and aqueous solutions, most commonly calcite or dolomite and has a crystalline texture of varying thickness. It is typically not layered, although there are exceptions.
Schist (SHIST) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes or plates.
Quartzite (kwôrt′sīt″)is a hard, non-layered metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts.
Rocks within the Blue Ridge Mountains in general, and the Nantahala Mountains specifically here, date back from the Precambrian to Paleozoic eras. These mountains began forming around 1 billion to 250 million years ago. During the Grenville and Alleghenian orogenies, the range was slowly thrust upwards. The mountains of the Nantahala area are much older than other ranges such as the Alps or Himalaya, which were formed during the Alpine orogeny around 65 million years ago. Also, The Rockies out west which formed 80 million to 55 million years ago during the Laramide orogeny. The mountains that you see here visible today are the result of the range being heavily eroded over the course of hundreds of millions of years. Erosion rates measured are consistent with rates measured in the nearby Great Smoky Mountains, suggestive of a mountain range approaching steady state.
I received confirmation for the OK to establish this EarthCache from the USFSNRD (U.S. Forestry Service, Nantahala Ranger District.
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